Vintage 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans Program Booklet

Decent condition for its age with some visible wear & tear to the cover (see pictures).

The design of the 1952 program cover came from world-renowned motorsport artist Geo Ham who opted for the symbolic approach. The place is the the Esses with the major contenders (Jaguar, Aston Martin and Cunningham) storming towards the Tertre Rouge turn in controlled slides...

The race was won by Herrmann Lang and Fritz Riess in their Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with a total of 277 laps to their name.

Vintage Original 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans Program Autographed by Peter Collins and Ken Wharton

Vintage Original 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans Program Autographed by Peter Collins and Ken Wharton

Vintage Original 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans Program Autographed by Peter Collins and Ken Wharton.

Here we have a VERY special 1956 Le Mans program...

Apart from being quite a rarity in its own right, this one was signed on the cover by racing greats Peter Collins and Ken Wharton!

Peter Collins (1931 - 1958) was teamed up with Sterling Moss and the duo drove their Ecurie Ecosse entered Aston-Martin DB3 S to a second place overall, a mere 1 lap behind the winning Jaguar D-Type of Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson.Peter signed the cover in pencil.

Ken Wharton (1916 - 1957) was teamed up with Jack Fairman in a works Jaguar D-Type but unfortunately, he never got to drive it in the race as Jack crashed the car already in lap 3...Ken signed the cover in blue ballpoint.

Neither of these two men would survive this race for more than 2,5 years and both would get killed in a Ferrari...

The booklet measures some 13 x 23.5 cm and contains 188 pages filled to the brim with information of the cars, the drivers, previous editions of the race, the track and of course great contemporary advertising.

Fantastic front and rear-cover artwork by the great Geo Ham.

It does have a fair amount of wear and tear, as can be seen in the photos, and yes, it would have been a lot more expensive if it was in mint condition...

The race was won by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson in their Jaguar D-Type with a total of 300 laps to their name.